He called Roland Malone, who answered on the second ring. “You done recording?”
“I just got home.”
“How’d it go?”
“Another day at the salt mine.”
Malone made a grunting sound that passed for his laugh. “Did you fire the ad guy?”
“Didn’t have to. I issued a threat. It took.”
“Good.”
Oz said, “As you predicted, the lead story on last night’s news was about the two bodies found in Bayou Coeur. Any buzz about how the investigation is faring?”
“Last I heard, no identity on the girl yet. No leads on where the two were killed. No motive. My worry factor is at negative five.”
Busby’s worry factor was never that low. “I asked you to be on standby this week.”
“I always am. But why particularly this week?”
“Because, as of last night, the Caballeros are short three truckloads of product, now headed east.”
Roland went still. He even stopped turning his ring. “Holy shit, you really did it.”
It smarted a bit that Oz had carried out a scheme that he’d proposed to Roland months earlier, and which Roland had advised against.
Oz had presented a large-scale heist as a way to profit by “brokering a deal,” when what it amounted to was stealing product from a notoriously vicious Mexican cartel, then turning around and selling it to a customer in St. Louis who was eagerly standing by with suitcases of cash.
“Then,” Oz had told Roland, “as an act of good will, I’ll give a share to the Caballeros.”
Roland thought the idea stunk. First off, you didn’t mess with the Caballeros unless you were looking to die. Second, they weren’t accustomed to being treated as a Johhny-come-lately cartel and having someone, even the mighty Oz, brokering their deals for them. Certainly without their prior knowledge. They would regard the theft of their product astheft, pure and simple, and weren’t likely to favor settling for a good-will-gesture share when they could have trafficked it themselves and kept every peso.
But rather than squelch Oz’s enthusiasm, apparently Roland’s cautionary advice had done just the opposite. Roland figured the ballsy move had appealed to Oz’s ego and tipped the scale in favor of his going through with it. It had been a challenge he’d been unable to resist.
He said now, “Our people got in, got out. I doubt the Caballeros even know it’s missing yet.”
“Congratulations.”
“A little soon to be popping corks. Those trucks have a lot of ground to cover. ETA by the end of the week, but could be earlier or later. That’s why I wanted you ready to act at a moment’s notice. And why I didn’t want anything going wrong this week.”
“Understood, boss. So maybe I should hold off on this.”
“What? A problem?”
“A nuisance. The homeless riffraff around here are getting bold. Last night a bunch of them showed up at my kitchen door. Staff were giving them handouts.”
“Bad for your business, bad for mine.”
“Exactly. I’m thinking of putting this kid, El Paso, on it.”
“What’s his real name?”
“I think we’re better off not knowing.”
“Put him on it how?”
“Have him dole out somediscouragementto the derelicts. Send a message that they’re not to come anywhere near my place again, or else.”
